Welcome Baby Girl Cards

A few weeks ago, I shared details of a cupcake celebration for someone at PSA Essentials wife having a baby. His baby girl arrived. I only saw one measly picture but she's super cute. Yay! Here are some adorable cards to welcome any baby into the world, handmade by our PSA Essentials design team using a variety of Peel & Stick stamps.

Card by Kelley Eubanks uses Duck Stamp from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps

Card by Kelley Eubanks uses Carriage stamp from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps

Card by Kelley Eubanks uses Vanilla Peel & Stick stamps (to stamp JOY)

Card by Kim Moreno uses "It's A Girl" from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps 

Card by Jeanne Streiff uses "It's a Girl" stamp from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps

Card by Kelly Eubanks uses dress stamp and "It's a Girl" from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps

 Card uses duck stamp from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps

 Card by Melyssa Connolly uses "It's a Girl" from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick Stamps

Card by Jamie Cripps uses duck and "It's a Girl" from PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps

Card uses elephant stamp from PSA Little Bunny Peel & Stick stamps

Which is your favorite? They're all so cute! Do you welcome baby with a card? We'd love to see your handmade creations on our Facebook page!

A Baby Sprinkle

Today I had the opportunity to co-host a baby sprinkle for my good friend and tennis partner Erin Carmines.  The party was held at the beautiful home of her mother-in-law Gloria Carmines with 18 guests.   Jamie and I were in charge of favors, decor, and flowers while Gloria graciously took care of the food and drink.   Jamie (owner and designer of Monograms by Jamie) and I with my love of party details crafted and and decorated an already beautiful setting.   The guests enjoyed shrimp caesar salad, champagne and wine, and great company.  Erin looked beautiful and her first daughter Alice enjoyed the party for a few minutes before taking a long nap while the ladies lunched.   It was a fantastic afternoon and at 4 pm (4 hours after the party had started, 5.5 hours after I arrived this morning) I checked my watch and realized I needed to head back home.  Here's a look at the party! 

Here is the guest of honor Erin and the soon-to-be big sister, Alice with her new purse from her grandmother   "Glo."

The hostesses Jamie, Gloria and myself pictured here before the guests arrived.  Aren't we bright and cheery?

The baby sprinkle invitation came from Tiny Prints -- still one of my favorite places for stationery and invitations. 

I created a welcome sign using card stock and ribbon to hang from the door.  The pom-poms and lanterns came from Oriental Trading Company.  They have the easiest party decorations at affordable prices. 

Here you can see Jamie's adorable onesies which she monogrammed and did the animal applique's on! She hung them from clothes line and pins which she decorated with craft tape. She found the Mud Pie burp cloths at the posh children's boutique Wild Whisperer on Calhoun Street in Bluffton, SC. 

Erin loves hippos (ever since third grade when she did a report on them) and knowing this, Jamie thought we should incorporate hippos into the party.  Such a great idea and was a fun personal touch for Erin. 

Ronnie's Bakery (Cakes By Lou) baked and decorated hippo cookies which I added a "oh happy day" stamp to by PSA Essentials to add a festive touch.  I thought they looked more like pigs than hippos but oh well... 

Gloria set up two tables for the guests to sit down to a delicious lunch. 

I created place card settings and stamped from PSA Little Bunny Peel & Stick stamps available at Swanky Press. 

Using PSA Little Bunny and Whimsy Cake Peel & Stick stamps, I also created cupcake toppers for the mini cupcakes by Carolina Cupcakes in Coligny Plaza. 

Guests really enjoyed them...classy picture Jen Witmer. 

The flowers were easily done - I got them at Piggly Wiggly of all places and barely arranged them into large vases. I also made 5 mini-diaper cakes and dispersed on the tables. I rolled diapers, secured with rubber bands, then tied ribbon around them.  I stamped "oh happy day" using PSA Essentials Just a Note Peel & Stick stamps onto pink paper and punched using my 1.5" circle cutter and adhered to silver paper punched with a 2" inch circle cutter. 

Guests seemed to truly have a fantastic time mingling before we sat down.

And enjoyed themselves when we sat down, too!

What a fun way to celebrate a new baby girl for Erin and spend the day with friends.  Congratulations Erin and we can't wait to meet your new baby girl.  Love you!

Personalized Nursery Banner

I wonder how many times I have written the word "personalized" in the last three years.  At PSA Essentials, we are all about things personalized.  Having something personalized (see, I am already up to three times in one post!) makes things more special.   More intimate.  Closer to home.  Take this nursery banner designed by Jessica Hill at Mad In Crafts.   Personalized banners to display in the nursery really make the room feel theirs and this one is beautifully designed and crafted.



Jessica has stamped "addie" using PSA Vanilla Peel & Stick stamps on white paper.  She's adhered them to larger glittery rounds, then even larger scalloped rounds and then tied together with ribbon.   Check out her complete tutorial on her blog.   See how you can make this as a gift or for your own little one!

Baby Sprinkle

Wondering what a "Sprinkle" is?  It's a scaled down version of a Baby Shower for a mom-to-be who’s expecting a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th, child – not her first.   I held one a few years ago for my friend Ashley who was pregnant with her second daughter, Owsley.   The celebration turned out to be a lovely afternoon celebrating a mother, her baby about to be born, and the friends and family that love them both.

The invitation came from Tiny Prints baby shower invitations. We went with the Dainty Dishes design because it went perfectly with the theme.  

For the invitaiton, I used my Wallace personalized stamp and switched out the middle for the umbrella in PSA Carriage Peel & Stick stamps.  Switching out my middle was easy, as was switching out my ink for espresso brown.  This is an added touch to your envelopes and looks great in the mail! 

We hosted the Sprinkle at The Cottage, a historic Bluffton residence circa 1882 turned restaurant. Owner Lesley kept us well fed with red velvet cake, key lime pie, espresso cheese cake, pimento tea sandwiches, chicken curry sandwiches, snickerdoodle scones, short bread cookies, 5 different teas, and what’s an afternoon tea without champagne?

Of course I decorated a ton for Ashley with my PSA Peel & Stick stamper and the Carriage Collection: a memory box from the Container Store, a basket for small presents, gift wrap and tags – even place cards. I stamped the carriage, worked some calligraphy magic, and embellished with a pearl. (Note the fancy diaper cake which I can’t claim credit for. This is Susan’s best diaper cake yet!)

A huge thanks to co-hosts Susan and Ginny – and to all our guests. I had a wonderful time celebrating Ashley and her precious Owsley (due any day!)

Sip & See Invitation

Until I moved to the south, I had never heard of a "Sip and See."   This party is thrown in honor of the mother and baby after the baby is born so that everyone can meet the baby.  It's a post-delivery shower if you -- will with less of a focus on gifts.  If it's a second, third or more child, it makes a lot of sense to me since you probably already have many of the things you need before the baby is born.  Guest "sip" on champagne or sparkly water and get to "see" the baby!  At the ones I have been to, the mom's do not open presents in front of guests.  What a relief for both mom and guest!

My mother held a Sip & See in Boston for both of my children.  A few months after both Molly and Connor were born, we all flew up to Boston for a visit and to show off the kiddos.  Here was Molly's Sip and See invitation by Peekaboo Pumpkin.

When sending the invitations, I switched out my Wallace personalized stamp for the "A star is born" middle from the PSA Carriage Peel & Stick pack.  This Peel & Stick pack is perfect for a baby!  We also switched up the ink for a pop of color.

The party was fabulous.  My mom hosted over 70 people to meet Molly at their neighborhood clubhouse.



When it came time for Connor's Sip & See in Boston, we ordered from Swanky Press.

We switched out the middle of our PSA Essentials Wallace personalized stamp and used the duck from PSA Carriage.   I also changed out my ink for black and lime.  Changing the ink is super easy!

The party was so much fun, Connor got to meet a lot of my friends from high school and dozens of my mom's friends.

Have you been to a Sip & See?  Don't you love the idea?